Inside you’ll find…

Ways to engage your loved one with conversation starters for couples; Fun and creative date and gift ideas for any budget; Heartwarming love stories and poems; Love busters and love boosters to add fun, zing, and zest; Trivia about the history of love and romance; Recipes to fan the heartflames.

Why wait for a special occasion to share the joy of being in love? Opening Everything Romance is like opening a door to romantic adventure—any day, any time!

Any moment is the perfect time for you as a couple to celebrate the beauty and wonder of love, especially when you’re equipped with a treasure trove of creative ways to do so. With a rich array of romantic gems, Everything Romance abounds with all you need to show your adoration, revel in your relationship, and create a legacy of romance to last a lifetime. – FROM THE WEBSITE

• Format: Hardcover
• Other Formats: eBook
• ISBN: 9780307729316

A Marriage Blessing

Most gracious God, we give You thanks for Your tender love in sending Jesus Christ to come among us, to be born of a human mother, and to make the way of the cross to be the way of life.

We thank You, also, for consecrating the union of man and woman in His name. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, pour out the abundance of Your blessing upon this man and this woman. Defend them from every enemy. Lead them into all peace. Let their love for each other be a seal upon their hearts, a mantle about their shoulders, and a crown upon their foreheads. Bless them in their work and in their companionship; in their sleeping and in their waking; in their joys and in their sorrows; in their life and in their death. Finally, in Your mercy, bring them to that table where Your saints feast forever in Your heavenly home; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with You and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.
(from The Book of Common Prayer)

PERFECT PAIR PIZZA-PITA SNACKS

2 whole-wheat pita breads
4 teaspoons basil pesto
1 cup cottage cheese
2 tablespoons Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh basil, chopped
Fresh Parmesan cheese (optional)

Toast pita breads until they are crispy and firm. Spread half of the pesto on each pita. Next, spread half of the cottage
cheese on each pita. Top with chopped tomato and fresh basil. If desired, sprinkle with fresh grated parmesan cheese. Slice each pita into two or four wedges and enjoy!

Romance Trivia
A team of medical experts in Virginia contends that you’re more likely to catch the common cold virus by shaking hands than by kissing.

{Click here to download the first chapter of Everything Romance now.}

ABOUT THE AUTHORS…David Bordon and Tom Winters are partners in Bordon-Winters, LLC, a book concept and packaging company that produces successful books and gift products. Among their previous titles are the popular “101 Things You Should Do” series. This volume joins another one of their beautiful gift books, Everything Christmas.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…A truly enjoyable book to go through with or even without your significant other. You’ll read interesting feeds, poems, scripture of love from the BIBLE, get recipes to try out for various occasions of celebration, and tips of course of ways to bring back more romance into your relationship. I recommend this all couples looking to reconnect or even to bring in more ideas to love each other. Keeper for my shelves!

I received a copy as part of the F.I.R.S.T Wildcard Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Mailbox Monday is where other bloggers write about the books they received the previous week. The Mailbox Monday is now going on a blog tour with the host for the month of January being  at At Home With Books. Visit the blog to see what books made it’s way and check out the others who are participating like me in the Monday Mailbox Meme.

 Keiko the Koala by Jill Ann Storti –  Everyone shares one thing in common. We are all different from each other and it is our diversity, which makes each person unique. “Keiko the Koala” is so much more than a book. It’s a powerful tool for parents to teach their children how to build strong relationships and self esteem. Young children will cherish Keiko in their formative years because he is comforting and entertaining. This exciting story is immediately rewarding to children, as they hear about the adventure of a koala bear, who finds himself lost in the forest. As he meets other animals, he quickly learns that he is different from other bears. You feel the anticipation as Keiko searches for a way out of the forest. While on his journey, he meets a young boy named Cody and they become friends. Cody is sad because he is different from other kids. Keiko teaches him that being different is what makes us special.

Six Ways To Keep The “Good” In Your Boy by Dannah Gresh - When bestselling author Dannah Gresh was body-slammed by her 12-year-old son, she was hit with reality: raising a boy is a whole new ballgame!

A boy’s relationship with his mom during the formative age between 8 and 12 is vital to his future well-being. So how can moms teach sons to be honest, confident, and respectful when the world and situations encourage them to make bad decisions and grow up too fast?

Dannah’s practical experience and research, along with advice from her husband, Bob Gresh, provide a mom with six proactive ways to help her son:

• honor his body in a healthy way
• get outside to play unplugged
• live out his faith

All summaries come from Barnes & Noble book overviews.

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Allergy Adapt, Inc. (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887624198
• ISBN-13: 978-1887624190

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Nickie Dumke enjoys helping people with food allergies and gluten intolerance find solutions to their health and weight problems. She began writing books to help others with multiple food allergies over 20 years ago and the process culminated in The Ultimate Food Allergy Cookbook and Survival Guide. She says, “This book contains everything I know to help with food allergies,” and it has helped many people come back from near-starvation. Her other books address issues such as how to deal with time and money pressures on special diets, keeping allergic children happy on their diets, and more. A few years ago, while listening to the struggles of an allergic friend on the Weight Watchers™ diet, she remembered her own weight struggles* many years ago and thought, “There has to be a better way.” This was the beginning of a new quest, and she is now helping those who are overweight due to inflammation (often due to unsuspected food allergies) or high-in-rice gluten-free diets, as well as those who are not food sensitive but want to lose weight permanently, healthily, and without feeling hungry and deprived. Her unique approach to weight and health presented in Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weight Loss is based on body physiology and reveals why conventional weight-loss diets work against rather than with our bodies and therefore rarely result in permanent weight loss. *

(Nickie’s weight loss story, briefly, is that in her early 20s she could not lose on a calorie-counting diet in spite of repeatedly further reducing the number of calories she ate and swimming vigorously and often. Then she found a diet based on blood sugar control, lost weight without being hungry, and still weighs what she did in her mid-20s). Nickie has had multiple food allergies for 30 years and has been cooking for special diets for family members and friends for even longer. Regardless of how complex your dietary needs are or how much or little cooking you have done, she has the books and recipes you need. Her books present the science behind multiple food allergies and weight control in an easily-understood manner. She has BS degrees in medical technology and microbiology. She and her husband live in Louisville, Colorado and have two grown sons.

You can visit Nickie’s websites at http://www.foodallergyandglutenfreeweightloss.com and http://www.food-allergy.org.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…I will admit, this book took me some time to get into, HOWEVER, I’m glad I finally took the time to read it.  As a food allergy suffferer and one who’s become more and more sensitive to foods over the years, I needed this book to better understand my pain as well as make me feel not alone. Whenever I’d mention a food allergy to someone and they ask what happens to me, I’d say, “Well, I will instantly swell like I’m 5 months pregnant, gain weight on the scale, and be in pain for hours, sometimes days before I get back to normal again.” They’d just stare at me and say, “well don’t eat so much”. My response? “But I’m NOT overeating.” Again, the stare from them. You know the one that says “OK…whatever you say…” Interestingly enough I went to my doctor Monday to discuss my stomach issues and FINALLY someone else along with Nicolette understands and I’m now working on re-balancing my own body chemistry.

So now back to the book itself…Nicolette Dumke does an excellent job in explaining the science behind it all and provides additional references for more. She touches up on your bodies hormones (cortisol, adrenaline, insulin, leptin, etc) and how they affect your hunger and weight. There’s a chapter on carbohydrates and the glycemic index. She also discusses fats and how the right fats are essential to our diets. Overall she stresses to LISTEN to how our body feels and “do it your body’s way”. In addition to helping us understand why our body reacts a certain way to different types of food, she provides 9 principles to a healthy eating plan, food recipes, cooking tips, more information on the glycemic index, a list of super foods to moderate inflammation, and lists multiple resources for further understanding and where to get special types of foods.   Even though the book does not appear “exciting” in terms of presentation (there are no pictures at all throughout the entire book), I do believe, this will be my new food “Bible” as I learn my own body’s chemistry. To those who have food allergies or sensitivities, I’d say grab a copy.

BTW…if you missed Nicolette’s post here last month, be sure to read her guest post: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Weight Loss.

MY BOOK RATING

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mailbox Monday is where other bloggers write about the books they received the previous week. The Mailbox Monday is now going on a blog tour with the host for the month of January being  at At Home With Books. Visit the blog to see what books made it’s way and check out the others who are participating like me in the Monday Mailbox Meme.

Below are some books old and new I either received in the mail or found during the week in various spots.

Cloudburst by V.C. Andrews (Fiction) - OUT OF A CLEAR BLUE SKY . . .Since being taken in by wealthy Mrs. Jordan March and living in her exquisite home like a daughter, Sasha Porter’s traumatic past—destitute on the streets, and the shattering accident that killed her mother—seems like a fading nightmare. Beautiful and sophisticated, as bold and daring as her “sister,” Kiera March, Sasha still keeps her mother’s wise words close to her heart: never fully trust anyone. Inside her privileged new world, it’s advice that will prove more precious than gold.. . .

CAN ANYTHING STOP THE DOWNPOUR?Against the wishes of Jordan’s husband, Donald, Sasha attracts the attention of Duane Banks, a shy, handsome athlete, and maneuvers her way into his heart. But Duane’s hidden torment soon explodes in a horrific tragedy that pulls Sasha into a flood of guilt and despair. And when someone she thought she could trust targets her vulnerability, Sasha recalls her mother’s warnings—and a violent storm of dark deceptions and shocking family secrets is unleashed. Will she sink or swim?

A Celebration of Love for Couples: Everything Romance by Todd Hafer (Relationships / Love & Marriage / Non-Fiction) - Romance is always in season when you’re in love.

Ready to create romantic memories? If you’re looking for new and unique ways to celebrate love, captivate the heart of your true love, or simply enjoy each other’s company, Everything Romanceoffers all of this and much more.

Inside you’ll find…

Ways to engage your loved one with conversation starters for couples; Fun and creative date and gift ideas for any budget; Heartwarming love stories and poems; Love busters and love boosters to add fun, zing, and zest; Trivia about the history of love and romance; Recipes to fan the heartflames.

Why wait for a special occasion to share the joy of being in love? Opening Everything Romance is like opening a door to romantic adventure—any day, any time!

Any moment is the perfect time for you as a couple to celebrate the beauty and wonder of love, especially when you’re equipped with a treasure trove of creative ways to do so. With a rich array of romantic gems, Everything Romance abounds with all you need to show your adoration, revel in your relationship, and create a legacy of romance to last a lifetime.

Lighting the Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America by Karenna Gore Schiff (Biography / Non-Fiction) - In this highly readable, illuminating narrative that spans the twentieth century, Karenna Gore Schiff tells the remarkable stories of nine influential women who each in her own way tackled inequity and advocated a change. These women recognized our country wasn’t living up to its promise and fought to alter it.

The women she’s selected are as varied as they are inspirational. Ida B. wells-Barnett, who was born a slave and fought against lynching; Mother Jones, an Irish immigrant who organized coal miners and campaigned against child labor; Alice Hamilton, who pushed for regulation of industrial toxins; Frances Perkins, who established our social secruity program; Virginia Durr, a high society Southern belle who fought the poll tax and segregation; Septima Clark, who helped to register black voters; Dolores Huerta, who organized farm workers; Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias, an activist for reproductive rights; and Gretchen Buchenholz, currently one of the nation’s leading child advocates.

This humorously illustrated book is a collection of wisdom that renowned adventurer Bear Grylls wants to share with his sons about the risks, tumbles, and victories of a well-lived life.

Mountain climber, world-record holder, and internationally known television personality Grylls knows a thing or two about adventure. The greatest adventure he’s experienced, though, is raising his three boys. In To My Sons, Grylls shares the quotes, Scripture verses, and spiritual wisdom he has learned through the literal ups and downs of an exciting life. Featuring cartoons from well-known sketch artist Charlie Mackesy, this book is a poignant primer for boys and men of all ages. –  Order here.

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks (January 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402260245
• ISBN-13: 978-1402260247

BUY FROM… Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-a-Million | Sourcebooks | IndieBound | Chapters/Indigo

ABOUT THE AUTHORS…Galina Mindlin, MD, PhD, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, is the founder of BMT (Brain Music Therapy). Don DuRousseau, BS, MBA, is founder/CEO of Human Bionics Llc., and executive director of Peak Neurotraining Solutions, Inc. www.peaknt.com Joseph Cardillo, PhD, professor, is a top-selling author in holistic psychology and mind-body medicine. www.brainmusictreatment.com

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…Interesting read about how music can change the way the brain works in different situations. I found the book to contain things I already knew but also informative on the science front and helpful in determining what songs or sounds would help me have a more peaceful or motivating and focused mind. I do think I would have liked it better if the layout of the chapters and writing style were more “entertaining” even though I learned a couple things. Overall though I found it to be  OK. If you’re looking for ways to make music fit better into your life, need a new way to get through situations using music memory techniques or learn how to get more into the music, you might find this to be an interesting read.

My Book Rating:

I received an e-copy of this book from Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review.
No money was given for this posting.

It’s 5:00 PM. Everyone’s hungry. It’s takeout or fakeout, meaning nuking a processed meal from the freezer. But there’s a third option that doesn’t include processed food or an unhealthy heap of calories and fat—Robin Takes 5.

Imagine quickly preparing delicious meals for yourself, your friends, and your family with just 5 fabulous ingredients. Does it get any better? Absolutely, with Robin Takes 5. The book features 500 recipes and each dish is a mouthwatering 500 calories or less. Two-color recipe text complements full-color photography inserts. In addition, helpful icons note ideal recipes for holidays and entertaining as well as recipes with less than 500 mg of sodium. That’s not all—nutritional information is given for each recipe.

In Robin Takes 5 500 recipes highlight at least 10 different ethnic cuisines, and dishes range from soups, pizzas, and pastas, to chicken, beef, pork, seafood, side dishes, and desserts. Consider 70 recipes just for chicken, such as Cashew Crusted Chicken with Roasted Jalapeno-Mango Chutney, and 50 dessert recipes, such as Orange Marmalade Tart with Chocolate Covered Almonds. Consider yourself armed for mealtime. The next time the clock strikes 5:00 PM and you want both noshing and nourishment, check out Robin Takes 5.

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; Original edition (November 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449408451
• ISBN-13: 978-1449408459

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Robin has been a food writer and a nutritionist since 1990. She is the author of the best-selling cookbook Quick Fix Meals. Her popular show Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller currently airs on the Food Network. Her primetime show Robin to the Rescue premiered on the Food Network in March 2007. Robin’s recipes and nutrition features can be seen regularly in a variety of media outlets, including the Today show on NBC, The Early Show on CBS, Good Morning America on ABC, Live! with Regis and Kelly, Fox News Channel, Food Network, HGTV, Guideposts, Cooking Light, Health, Fitness, Fit Pregnancy, Woman’s World, and Parade. Robin has a master’s degree in food and nutrition from New York University.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…Food Networks Robin Miller has just the right cookbook for busy families. Robin Takes 5 contains 500 recipes that are 5 ingredients or less and all no more than 500 calories. As a busy working mom of 3 kids, I’m always looking for easy, healthier, yet delicious dishes I can quickly put together after a long day at work. And if I calculated it right, 500 recipes means I could technically serve a different dinner meal from the book for almost a year and a half! There were nicely photographed food images throughout that will have you salivating at the mouth for sure.

My Book Rating: 

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review from Planned Television Art. No money was given for this post.

1. Diets rarely work. Achieving permanent weight loss is extremely uncommon. After dieters reach their goal, they usually re-gain most or all of the weight they lost. They may even be heavier than when they started; if they lost muscle mass, their metabolic rate will be lower than before their diet.
2. Trying to lose weight does not mean having be hungry. Most diets which demand “No fat! No snacks!” have made us hungry, but hunger is part of why such diets don’t work. How long can one resist being hungry? Then when we finally eat, we overeat. In addition, hunger indicates falling blood sugar levels and rising insulin levels. High insulin levels affect enzymes that control fat metabolism and tell the body to store food rather than burn it and not to burn body fat.
3. “Counting calories is the way to lose weight” is a fallacy. Conventional diets say that all that matters when you want to lose weight is the number of calories consumed minus the number burned by physical activity. Although calories do have an effect, they are not the primary determining factor in how much we weigh. Our hormones, such as insulin, cortisol, leptin and others, are what really determine our weight, and we can control them. If your hormones are saying, “Deposit that food! A famine is in the land!” you will not be able to lose weight even if the number of calories you consume is very low.
4. Skipping breakfast, or other fasting, tells your hormones that you are at risk of being food deficient because you are living in a land of famine; this inhibits weight loss. Eating moderate amounts of food at three hour intervals (or two hour intervals if you get hungry that soon) is the best way to lose weight, and you’ll never be hungry! Eat breakfast within an hour of arising in the morning, and have small protein-containing snack between meals and a protein-containing bedtime snack.
5. “Fat is bad for your health – clogs the arteries – and should be eliminated” is a fallacy. This idea was derived from the calorie math described in #3 because fat contains nine calories per gram compared to four calories per gram for proteins and carbohydrates. (This is where the almost-no-fat, plenty-of-carbohydrate diets got their start). However, our bodies need fats of the right kind to make hormones, build cell membranes, and deal with inflammation.
6. The right fats promote weight loss! This sounds heretical, right? (And it doesn’t mean you should load up on unhealthy types of fat). Yet it is a scientific fact. Fats help with weight in two ways: (1) A meal or snack that contains fat will keep us satisfied much longer than a low-fat meal or snack, especially since these may be high in carbohydrates. Therefore, a person consumes less food! (2) Some fats, especially those that contain omega-3 fatty acids, reduce inflammation. With less inflammation, leptin, our master weigh control hormone, functions more efficiently. When it is functioning optimally and a person overeats, leptin will boost the metabolic rate and decrease appetite, thus automatically returning the person to a healthy weight. People whose weight fluctuates in a five pound range regardless of what they eat have a normally functioning leptin system.
7. Individuals may deny – or be unaware of – having problems with inflammation, but this is a fallacy if they are heavy. Sometimes inflammation is obvious; it causes redness, warmth, and/or pain. However, chronic inflammation can be silent. Overweight individuals may not know it, but they are experiencing silent inflammation. As we gain weight, our bodies do not add more fat cells. The fat cells we already have become larger and are just filled with more fat. They leak as they are stretched more and more. Then immune cells called macrophages come in to clean up the mess. The macrophages release inflammatory chemicals in the cleanup process. Some of these interfere with leptin functioning. In optimally healthy people, leptin is responsible for automatically maintaining weight at the right level. When leptin is made ineffective by inflammation, the dysfunction is called leptin resistance, meaning that even though a person might have normal or high levels of leptin, the leptin does not work to suppress appetite and speed metabolism to maintain a healthy weight.
8. Although #7 sounds like a like a depressing vicious cycle, there are ways to break the cycle. Briefly, these include consuming the right fats to reduce inflammation, eating to keep blood sugar and insulin levels stable, and eating anti-inflammatory foods. The additional good news is that as the slimming process begins, leptin resistance abates. Then when an individual reaches optimal weight and has inflammation under control, the struggle to maintain a healthy weight will end. The newly-functional leptin system will control both appetite and weight.
9. There are two commonly held fallacies about eating carbohydrates: (1) Very low or no-carbohydrate diets are the best way to lose weight, and (2) A diet low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates is the best way to lose weigh. The USDA Food Pyramid promoted this second type of diet, and the weight of Americans increased every year when the Food Pyramid was our national standard. The truth is that we need carbohydrates for good health. Strictly limiting carbohydrates deprives us of the phytochemicals they contain which help reduce inflammation and allow our leptin to function properly. Furthermore, carbohydrates are not all alike. Simple carbohydrates are not all bad and starches are not all good for us. The glycemic index is a measure of how each carbohydrate affects blood sugar levels. This test is done using human volunteers, unlike calorie testing which is done with a machine (calorimeter). The best way to lose weight is to maintain stable blood sugar and insulin levels by eating carbohydrates with low or moderate glycemic index scores and balance these carbohydrates with protein.
10. Exercise, if excessive, prolonged, or done when we are hungry, can keep us from losing weight or even cause us to deposit fat. (Read the whole story about this here: http://www.foodallergyandglutenfreeweightloss.com/exercise_right.html). Moderate exercise, such as walking, gardening, house cleaning, or moderate bicycling or swimming, is the best way to lose weight because it does not “unsettle” our hormones. In addition, moderate exercise decreases leptin resistance, which was discussed in #7, thus making weight loss easier and normal self-regulating weight control possible.

There may be other things that you never knew about weight loss, but ten is the limit for this list. To find out more about how to lose weight permanently without hunger or struggle, read Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weight Loss or visit http://www.foodallergyandglutenfreeweightloss.com. The principles in the ten points above apply to everyone. This book will help people with food allergies or gluten intolerance lose weight while staying on their special diets, and it will help non-food-sensitive people lose weight as well.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Nickie Dumke enjoys helping people with food allergies and gluten intolerance find solutions to their health and weight problems. She began writing books to help others with multiple food allergies over 20 years ago and the process culminated in The Ultimate Food Allergy Cookbook and Survival Guide. She says, “This book contains everything I know to help with food allergies,” and it has helped many people come back from near-starvation. Her other books address issues such as how to deal with time and money pressures on special diets, keeping allergic children happy on their diets, and more. A few years ago, while listening to the struggles of an allergic friend on the Weight Watchers™ diet, she remembered her own weight struggles* many years ago and thought, “There has to be a better way.” This was the beginning of a new quest, and she is now helping those who are overweight due to inflammation (often due to unsuspected food allergies) or high-in-rice gluten-free diets, as well as those who are not food sensitive but want to lose weight permanently, healthily, and without feeling hungry and deprived. Her unique approach to weight and health presented in Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weight Loss is based on body physiology and reveals why conventional weight-loss diets work against rather than with our bodies and therefore rarely result in permanent weight loss. *

(Nickie’s weight loss story, briefly, is that in her early 20s she could not lose on a calorie-counting diet in spite of repeatedly further reducing the number of calories she ate and swimming vigorously and often. Then she found a diet based on blood sugar control, lost weight without being hungry, and still weighs what she did in her mid-20s). Nickie has had multiple food allergies for 30 years and has been cooking for special diets for family members and friends for even longer. Regardless of how complex your dietary needs are or how much or little cooking you have done, she has the books and recipes you need. Her books present the science behind multiple food allergies and weight control in an easily-understood manner. She has BS degrees in medical technology and microbiology. She and her husband live in Louisville, Colorado and have two grown sons.

You can visit Nickie’s websites at http://www.foodallergyandglutenfreeweightloss.com and http://www.food-allergy.org.

Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weight Loss gives definitive answers to the question, “Why is it so hard to lose weight?” It is because we have missed or ignored the most important pieces in the puzzle of how our bodies determine whether to store or burn fat. Those puzzle pieces are hormones such as insulin, cortisol, leptin, and others. Individuals with food allergies or gluten intolerance face additional weight-loss challenges such as inflammation due to allergies or a diet too high in rice. This book explains how to put your body chemistry and hormones to work for you rather than against you, reduce inflammation which inhibits the action of your master weight control hormone, leptin, and flip your fat switch from “store” to “burn.” It includes a flexible healthy eating plan that eliminates hunger, promotes the burning of fat, and reduces inflammation and tells how to customize the plan so it fits you, your allergies or intolerances, and your need for pleasure in what you eat. Information about cooking for special diets, 175 recipes, a list of sources for special foods, and extensive appendix and reference sections are also included.

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Allergy Adapt, Inc. (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887624198
• ISBN-13: 978-1887624190

BUY THE BOOK… Amazon | Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weightloss Site

Based upon his weekly Harvard Business Review columns (which is one of the most popular columns on HBR.com, receiving hundreds of thousands of unique page views a month), 18 MINUTES clearly shows how busy people can cut through all the daily clutter and distractions and find a way to focus on those key items which are truly the top priorities in our lives.

Bregman works from the premise that the best way to combat constant and distracting interruptions is to create productive distractions of one’s own. Based upon a series of short bite-sized chapters, his approach allows us to safely navigate through the constant chatter of emails, text messages, phone calls, and endless meetings that prevent us from focusing our time on those things that are truly important to us.

Mixing first-person insights along with unique case studies, Bregman sprinkles his charming book with pathways which help guide us — pathways that can get us on the right trail in 18 minutes or less.

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Business Plus; 1 edition (September 28, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446583413
• ISBN-13: 978-0446583411

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Peter Bregman is the CEO of Bregman Partners, a global management consultancy where he is the advisor to CEOs as well as to their top management teams on leadership and workplace issues. He is based in New York City.

In 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done, Peter Bregman doesn’t offer a slew of strategies to accomplish all your activities per day. What he does offer is an approach to consider thoughtfully your priorities and ideas for truly accomplishing your top goals. His book helps readers build a more meaningful and satisfying life filled with focusing—as the title reveals—on the right things. - MARGARITA TARTAKOVSKY, M.S.

“Pick this book up and read it. Bregman’s wisdom, humility, and ability to tell a great story run through every page of this gem. 18 Minutes is the best blend of a business book and a self-help book I have ever read.” - Robert Sutton, Stanford University Professor and bestselling author of Good Boss, Bad Boss

“Feeling in control of your time is a key element of happiness. In the thoughtful, practical, and often funny 18 MINUTES, Peter Bregman explains how to make sure we have plenty of time to do the things that matter most to us — so that our lives reflect our true values and priorities.” - Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author ofThe Happiness Project

• List Price: $15.95
• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Taegais Publishing, LLC (July 25, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981899730
• ISBN-13: 978-0981899732

BUY THE BOOK… Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Amy has written one novel, A LEVER LONG ENOUGH, about a small military team that travels back in time to film the theft of Jesus’ body from the tomb. This book won two awards.

Visit the author’s website.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…THE STORY TEMPLATE is just that, a template for shaping your story. Deardon provides tips and exercises throughout the book to get the writing process flowing. I personally had every intention of following her writing process in writing my own novel for November’s NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) but unfortunately wasn’t able to spend the time I had anticipated for the month with other aspiring authors. I did however get the chance to read the book and glad I did because it helped me with a better starting point than before.  I had fears that blocked me from starting anything out on paper but was able to get somethings down. That, after a year of thinking on this particular story idea, is progress in my book. I really enjoy free-writing now and it helps open up my mind and remove fears of not having anything to say. For the person in me that isn’t a planner but would rather skip everything and just dive in, I will admit, it was difficult at first to go through the beginning exercises. I wondered to myself, why I was spending all this time going through exercises  to write the background of the story and not actually writing my story, word by word, line by line, and page by page that I had wanted so badly to do. But after completing some of those exercises, I found myself more in tune with my story idea. I had more understanding of it and could create a foundation I know will help me to continue and make a stronger story people could really resonate with. Who knows? Maybe by this time next year, the story will be completed and in the throes of editing? I know…it seems like a long time but with me and my busy schedule, a year sounds like a good goal to me. So I plan to continue going through the exercises and re-reading the sections in Deardon’s book. This will definitely be a book I keep on my resource shelf.

My Book Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

***Special thanks to Amy Deardon for sending me a review copy.***